Leader Danny Mekonnen brings his large group and their new album to the Paradise in Boston
It’s pronounced "debbo," and it means communal labor or collective effort in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. “It’s kind of an archaic word,” said JP resident Danny Mekonnen, 31, who founded and plays saxophone in Debo Band. “It’s not a word that’s in everyday use, but it’s short and easy to remember, and it has a nice definition of people working together.” In fact, Debo Band has 11 members working together, playing exciting, dance-worthy original songs that are sort of a mash-up of traditional and modern Ethiopian pop music. They’ve been together since 2006, most of them live in JP, they have a new self-titled album out on the Sub Pop label, and they’re performing at the Paradise in Boston on Aug. 1. Mekonnen recently spoke …
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JP’s newish Ethiopian restaurant offers a veritable vegetarian feast for which you are best advised to fast well in advance.
In a Vegging Out column early last year, I wrote “Although there is not a single restaurant in JP that serves exclusively vegetarian fare, Wonder Spice is as close to one as you will find.” With the opening this past October of Blue Nile, the mantle of the neighborhood’s most veg-friendly restaurant may have arguably passed to the still newish Ethiopian restaurant in Hyde Square. Restaurant owner and longtime JP resident Ellena Haile explained that the country’s tradition of vegetarianism is derived from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s obligation of fasting more than 200 days per year. In addition to the Lenten season and numerous annual feast days, adherents are also obligated to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. “It is our culture,” …
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